George W. Bush Does Not Confirm United States' Intention To Withdraw From ABM Treaty By The End Of 2001

US President George W. Bush has not confirmed the United States' intention to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Asked at the Shanghai press conference if he had informed his Russian counterpart of the United States' withdrawal from the Treaty by the end of the year, the US leader said no.
According to Bush, he informed Vladimir Putin that the US is "making an analysis of its arsenals." The US President also stressed that he wanted to fulfil the promise he had made during the presidential campaign "to reduce the nuclear arsenal to a degree necessary to maintain peace in the 21st century." At the same time, Bush said he had "repeated the announcement he made in Slovenia, that the ABM Treaty is outdated and we must see if it can be discarded." He also noted that the Treaty was signed at a time when our countries "hated each other." "But we don't hate each other any more, do we," he said. "There is nothing to stop peaceloving countries from working out the systems they think are necessary."